ktgunn22: Brynn Makenzie's Difficult Birth

Posted Friday, December 03, 2010 12:52 PM

That day came and went...

I was due June 20th and well that day came and went.  I thought I was supposed to be going in the following Friday at 8 AM to be induced.  That Thursday, I received a call from the hospital saying that I was supposed to be there by now but they were calling to push me back because they were busy.  I was devestated.  So I called my OB/GYN who called and rescheduled the induction for the Friday, just for 12:30.  So Friday comes, I call to make sure I could come in and the nurse said that I could but I would have to start in specialized care and to come in at 2 PM.
 
I walked into the hospital with my boyfriend and my mother, went through all of the admissions hoopla just to find out that L & D never told them I was coming! UGH!!  At 4, I took my first dose of Cytotec.  I didn't feel any contractions despite my long walks around the hospital so at 8 I took a second dose.  I had sporadic contractions but nothing consistent.  So at midnight, I was transfered over to L& D. After an hour, no one had come to my room.  I was not happy to say the least, but I handled it better than my boyfriend and mom.  Finally, around 3 AM, they started me on Pitocin.  My contractions started to come more regularly and more intense.  The anesthesiogist came in at 6:30 to discuss the epidural process.  No longer did she leave the room when BAM the contractions were getting very intense.
 
Almost ready!

Within the hour, the anesthesiologist came in to administer the epidural.  I wouldn't look at the needle but by the look on my boyfriend's face, it was a big one.  The anesthesiologist was putting the extra medicine in the syringe when it sprayed all over my and his face.  He was so embarassed.  The epidural made it easy for me to sleep.  At 10 AM, my wonderful delivery nurse came to check me and I was dilated to a 5 and 60% effaced.  My OB/GYN placed the internal monitors in me.  Slept for another hour and I felt this strong pressure.  So when my nurse came in at 11, I told her I thought I was ready.  I had went from 5 and 60% to 10 and 100% in one hour.  
 
A beautiful birth

By 11:15, I was starting to push.  I never made a sound...it was much different than I had expected.  At 11:55 AM on June 26, 2010, my beautiful daughter, Brynn Makenzie entered the world.  She was 7 lbs 8 oz and 20.5 inches long.  It was the most amazing and beautiful yet totally exhausting experience.  We introduced her to the family and everyone had just started to leave to give my boyfriend and I some alone time.  I breastfed her, which she latched on amazingly well.  They moved me over the Mother/Baby unit when my nurse said she was going to take her to the nursery to get a closer listen, she thought she heard a slight heart murmer...

Then a sudden change of plans

All of a sudden, there was a team of four doctors in my room (one that would not look me in the eye and totally freaked me out)!  She was cyanotic which means she was turning bluish purple. My daughter was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect, specifically pulmonary atresia, and needs open heart surgery.  (Her right ventricle is underdeveloped and is not allowing blood flow to her lungs and because of that her triscupid valve is abnormally small.  Her pulmonary valve is sealed shut but leaking.)  They had to administer a prostinglandin to keep the ductus arteriosis open or else her heart wasn't going to pump blood out to her lungs.  She needed to be transferred by helicopter to University of Detroit or University of Michigan.  My heart sank, I wept like I had never wept before! My image of a perfect delivery with a perfecly healthy baby just came tumbling down in front of me.  I had this feeling that my daughter may not make it.  We called our parents to come back and I remember my boyfriend's mom just hugging me and crying with me until my mother got there.  I remember the nurse coming in to give my a vicodin, I refused adamently.  I wanted out to be with my daughter but they wanted me to rest.  I told them I wasn't staying if my daughter was being transferred.  They told me they'd have to check with my OB/GYN.  Lucky for them, he decided to discharge me.  So within 6 hours of me delivering, I was discharged from the hospital. I went to the RNICU and there was my precious baby girl.  She had IV's running through her umbilical cord and I could only touch her briefly because they didn't want me to stimulate her too much.

Feeling hopeless 

They decided she could be transferred via an ambulance but we were unable to ride with her.  So we jumped in my brother's car and drove to Ann Arbor, the worse car ride ever because of the situation and because I was in pain!  We get to Mott's children's hospital and had to wait to see her. I walked into the room and just sobbed uncontrollably.  There was my baby, so sweet, swaddled with tubes everywhere.  After many meetings with doctor's and to make a long story shorter, they postponed surgery until she had grown a little more. So on July 2nd at one day shy of one week, my daughter underwent open heart surgery.  They placed a central shunt and ballooned opened her pulmonary valve.  After a somewhat easy recovery, my daughter was discharged from the hospital on July 13, 2010.  Finally, we were able to take her home, where she belonged!
 
Finally home!

Follow-up:  She has recovered wonderfully!  She is doing very well and has followed-up with her cardiologist here in town.  We did recently find out that she does have to undergo another surgery, but we knew this was an option when we left the first time.  Sometime in early 2011, she will go down to Ann Arbor again.  The exact surgery is undecided at the time but is necessary to make sure her heart is caught up with her size. 

> Want to share your birth story? Email it now to Bump Eileen at echu@theknot.com.